Amidst debris and tumbledown bent-wood chairs left over from the previous tenant, Perry Hendrix propped himself on a stool at what would soon be the bar at Brasserie by Niche, the newest venture in Gerard Craft’s culinary cavalcade. Hendrix is new to St. Louis. In fact, he’d only been in town for six days when he sat down to talk. Hendrix is collaborating with Craft to develop Brasserie, a restaurant that will serve traditional French dishes and, in true brasserie form, serve not just wine, but focus heavily on beer. “It’s a work in progress. I hope that it always is,” said Hendrix. “I want it to constantly evolve but, again, be tied to tradition.”
How did all of this come about? I’ve known Gerard for five years now; [he] was a line cook for me out in Salt Lake. He left there to open Niche. At the beginning of the summer, I was up here off and on helping Gerard get Taste [by Niche] up and running. I had spare time. The restaurant I was at before actually burned down at the end of March. It was an old, historic inn – Richmond Hill Inn in Asheville, N.C. – that very tragically burned. So being without work except for a little consulting here and piecemeal stuff back in North Carolina, when this came available for Gerard, he gave me a call to see if I would be interested.
What is your culinary style? The food that I’ve done in the past was in line with what Niche is doing now. But over the past couple of years, I’ve been wanting to get more and more rustic. More and more approachable. I don’t like empty restaurants. I wanted to be part of a neighborhood place where, on any given weeknight, I know 60 to 70 percent of the people that walk through the door. Maybe this is the second time this week they’ve come in. That to me would be great success.
A true neighborhood restaurant … what is your price point? The price point is going to be incredible. We’re hoping to keep 99 percent of the entrées under $20. There might be a few steak options – beef is expensive – that creep above $20. We want to offer a three-courses-for-$30 menu.
How do you approach cooking? I have always felt I’ve been a great shopper. Developing relationships with local farms, cheesemakers – local interests me quite a bit. And I like taking one ingredient at the peak of its season and repeating it two or three times on a plate. So you might see a turnip gratin, a turnip purée, a fried turnip. Just to give people an idea of what that ingredient can be. I also like clean purity of flavors. So that’s why I have to be a good shopper. The ingredient has to taste like that ingredient, which has to taste great.
If you’re cooking classic French food but with a local, seasonal angle, what items will always have a place on the menu? With bistro and brasserie cooking, even though they’re set dishes, it’s the accompaniments that change with the season. I’d like to set it up so it is constantly revolving. [And] cassoulet in the middle of summer doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. There’s seasonality that way in how people eat.
What about the pastries? The pastries, again, are going to be traditional French. So you’ll see chocolate mousse and profiteroles.
I know you haven’t fully developed the menu, but what else can you tell me? Duck confit, cassoulet, beef bourguignon. We will have plats du jour that might be mustard-braised rabbit. Eventually we hope to add a raw bar up front so we can offer oysters and the giant seafood plateaus that you see all over France. You’ll see some variety meats, certainly.
How do you interpret traditional, rustic French food? A lot of traditional brasserie and bistro cooking is cooking of economy where you’re not cooking a filet mignon. You’re cooking a flatiron steak, a shoulder cut off the steak that is incredibly delicious, more flavorful than a filet mignon. A little harder to cut through but you make up for it in flavor. The crux of it is full-flavored food [that’s] not afraid of some fat, certainly, but we’ll have some great salads too.
Brasserie by Niche
(An early November opening is anticipated.)
4580 Laclede Ave., St. Louis
314.454.0600
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2009.